5 Electrical Problems to Keep an Eye out for When Buying an Old Home

5 Electrical Problems to Keep an Eye out for When Buying an Old Home

5 Electrical Problems to Keep an Eye out for When Buying an Old Home
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If you are considering buying an old house, then you need to think about the electrical problems that you may be purchasing. Modern Americans as used to using reliable electricity.  However, many homes constructed a long time ago had less reliable electricity. If you are considering buying an old home, inspect it for the common electrical issues found in older homes.

Insubstantial Power

If you turn on an electrical appliance and notice that the lights dim, then chances are that the home has insubstantial power. From 1990 to 2008, the average person in the world used 10 percent more electricity. This problem with your electrical service often requires installing a new system based on current codes.

Old Wiring

Pests can eat wiring. Old wiring may just wear out over time. These problems can often cause home fires. In fact, fire departments responded to an average of 45,000 electrical structural fires per year annually. These fires claim an average of 420 people’s lives each year. Knob and tube wiring installed in homes before 1930 can be a particular problem and can cause many safety concerns.

Dead Outlets

Older homes often do not have enough electrical outlets, and those that are present can be dead. Outdated circuit boxes are often the root of the problem. The boxes in older homes may not meet current code.  Many cities require the main breakers outside the home.  Some older homes have them inside closets.  A licensed electrician must move the box.  Otherwise the utility will not turn on the power

Do-it-yourself Projects

Previous owners may have tried to save money by making repairs to the electrical system on their own. This can cause nightmares that will make electricians wonder how the house is still standing. Do not complicate the matter by trying to make repairs on your own.  Call a professional to come to figure out what needs to be fixed.  This is the most cost-effective way to save the system. While these problems can be found throughout the house, they are often more common around the junction box. Often times, if the house was added onto during different periods, you may find that the electrical system was not upgraded to keep up with the additions.

Loose Connections

Loose connections are one of the most common electrical problems found in old homes. When loose connections are present, the electrical current cannot flow through the system correctly. Therefore, the wires may spark and catch insulation or other nearby flammables on fire. Additionally, loose connections can cause appliances to overheat. Electronics plugged into a plug with a loose connector can be damaged beyond repair.

If you are still interested in buying an old house, then think about getting an electrical inspection done before proceeding with the sale. At a minimum, this will allow you to know what problems you are inheriting with the purchase of the house. If you decide to proceed, then you need to consider hiring an electrician to do any electrical repairs needed to the home.

8 Ways to Save Money on Food But Still Eat Well

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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Who doesn’t like to eat healthily?

A diet composing of organic fruits and veggies along with the premium quality cereals and other edibles seems to be the desire of almost everyone. Howbeit, what comes as an obstacle is the high price tag. We often quit the urge to eat healthy in order to save our precious bucks.

In such a scenario, all that you need to do is that you’ve to just act a bit smarter. Thus, you will end up saving huge while still eating healthy.

Here are 8 Ways to Save Money on Food But Still Eat Well.

Here are the ways to explore:

  1. Don’t go for packages salads

The bagged salad mixes are definitely convenient but they are too expensive! If you just plan your days a bit smartly, you can rather eat a salad while spending far less. All that you need to do is buy some fresh lettuce and cucumbers from the wholesale market and store them in the refrigerator. It can let you munch on the healthy mixes while spending as less as $5!

  1. Get the spices from bulk bins

Spices are one of the foremost ingredients to make any recipe tasty while maintaining the health benefits. You can add a lot of them in your food as per your choice and requirements.

You just have to make a smart move while purchasing them. Look for such a store which sells them in bulk. You can by from such a store at an extremely affordable price. Plus, as they have a shelf life for years, you can store them for a long period of time!

  1. Include Russet potatoes in the diet

Russet potatoes are a great source of fibre, potassium and vitamin C. Interestingly, they are not pricey at all! You can try multiple versatile recipes with such potatoes. All of them definitely taste good. Whether it is baking them or stuffing them with beans and other veggies, they are incredibly tasty all the time.

  1. Go for the coupons

When it’s about buying your groceries and other organic foods, you should certainly look for online deals and offers. There are many such wholesale stores which offer hefty vouchers on everything. All that you need to do is just sign up for the deal sites like CouponsMonk and thus all the lucrative discounts will be delivered in your inbox. You just have to grab the right discount at the right time and that’s it!

  1. Opt for ground beef

Eating meatloaf is certainly one of the best ways to eat healthy while saving huge. It’s because the prominent ingredient of meatloaf is ground beef which is pretty inexpensive. Moreover, if you opt for the lean grind, it’s quite healthy. Some of the excellent ways to include such ground beef in your diet are Taco salad, Portobello & Beef Patty Melt.

  1. Eat canned fishes

Just like the fresh fishes, canned salmon and tuna are also a great source of omega-3 fats. It will help to keep your heart healthy by lowering triglycerides and blood pressure. Above that, they are cheaper than the other counterparts. You can give an Asian twist to the sesame tuna salad with some shredded potatoes and it will be a healthy yet budget-friendly recipe ready for you.

  1. Look for end-of-the-season sale

Every grocery store offers a lucrative sale at the end of the seasons to clear out all the stocked up products. You need to just make the best out of such options. Hop into such sales and get all your desired groceries for a lesser price. Don’t forget to keep an eye on when your favourite store is coming up with such a sale! It will let you buy all the healthy foods while spending quite less.

  1. Grown your own greens

One of the exciting options to eat fresh veggies while cutting down your expenditure is nothing but planting the vegetables in your own garden. You can nurture them and further choose to grow only such varieties which you want to eat.

Moreover, when it comes to salad greens, it will even not take up a large portion of the area to grow. Also, they get matured quite quickly. All that you need to do is just spend some time in the garden every day and thus you will end up eating while being extremely thrifty.

Aren’t these tricks pretty worthy? If you want to eat healthy while not breaking your banks, these tips will definitely help you out. So, what are you waiting for? Just start following them from now itself and that’s it!

You will lead a healthy life while saving a lot of your money!

About Author: Clara Decker is the free time writer and full-time internet surfer. She likes to work on making in-home life better in society. She lives like an entrepreneur to support her husband at the month ends.

TNTell’s Homemade Airsoft Target

TNTell's Homemade Airsoft Target
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My son has been working toward showing he is responsible enough to earn an airsoft gun, so in this video he makes a homemade airsoft target for his new tool out of a cardboard box, old grocery sacks, and some duct tape.

My boy is not new to guns, as soon as the ultrasound showed gender I bought him his first gun, I only waited to see if I should get a wood one or a pink one.  He owned a red ryder BB gun about 14 years younger than I got my first BB gun (I was 15).

But this is the first gun (besides Nerf) that I let him have ammunition for.

He had to show he was responsible, and I was able to get him to do quite a bit of chores but in the end, he earned it.

And if he was going to have something that shoots he needed a safe place to shoot it.

This is a very simple target that works well with Airsoft.  As long as you don’t get too close to the target the 6mm airsoft rounds easily penetrate the cardboard but are slowed by the wadded up plastic bags so the rounds don’t exit the box.

 

TNTell’s First Nerf Video

TNTell's First Nerf Video
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My boy has been watching a ton of minecraft and nerf videos and he has been after my wife to help him shoot videos while I am at work.

The pair did TNTell’s First Nerf Video on a cell camera, and he doesn’t know what he is talking about, but its cute how he is trying to emulate what he sees.

What does a 6 year olds video on nerf guns have to do with DIY and preparedness?  Nothing, but it has everything to do with why I work so hard to be prepared for disasters.  I love my family, and want them to be safe and secure, but also happy.

It makes me feel good to support my son, even more so that at this moment, he chooses to like the same things I do.

I bet that at some point he will start listening to music and doing things that I don’t like, but I figure I will still love him when he is a teenager.

But, as Exhibition shooter Herb Parson said, you can hunt with your kids, or hunt for them.  WT is not ready for hunting yet, but we can still let him get his gun fix in other ways.

How to Make a Roof Top, Pressurized, Solar Heated Shower: H2OT

How to Make a Roof Top, Pressurized, Solar Heated Shower: H2OT

 

How to Make a Roof Top, Pressurized, Solar Heated Shower: H2OT
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I saw this over design for a solar heated shower at instructables, and though, man I have to make this.

I am not going to go line for line from the instructable, you can visit it at the link above, but this guy has a genus solution to a problem I have dealt with a lot in my camping experiences.

Speaking of camping experiences, my wife had to drive my truck the other day and realized just what I was talking about when I complain how hot it gets inside my old beater (the windows are inoperative and the AC doesn’t work).  She and I then decided its time to retire the truck from daily driving.

I happened to found a old ford windstar that she reluctantly agreed to let me look into.  If everything goes well I should get it next week.

The idea is that since it does not have the passenger seats I can turn it into a microcamper that we can use to go camping on the weekends as well as let me have some cheap car to drive back and forth to work.

With all the miles I have to commute back and forth to the prison and the Academy, it just doesn’t make since to buy an expensive car just to run up the miles.  Dave Ramsey would approve…

With having this as a camper, having a build in solar heater that was pressurized would be and awesome addition – plus, this instructable looked to be pretty inexpensive to boot.

Just so you know, the main reason I am posting this, besides the fact that I think it is AWESOME, is so I can easily go back and find this later.